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Chapter Three

Ayden Trey Shepard was not a man easily shaken, nothing ever worked him up, he was level headed, worked well under pressure, knew what to do when in trouble; he was a born leader, strong not only physically but mentally. Nothing ever effected Commander Shepard, he made it through Alliance training, the gruelling N7 program and even survived the assault on Elysium to become a war hero before he'd even hit twenty years of age. But through all that hard work, dedication and countless hours spent preparing, training, fighting, he always had his twin. She was his other half, his heart and soul. He was only able to push himself harder because of her, they only really had each other, so when he came close to losing her, it shook him. He stood against the med bay wall, arms folded across his chest, staring at his sister as Dr Chakwas looked her over and applied medi-gel to her many cut and bruises, he could tell she didn't want the good doctor to fuss so much over simple cuts; when they were in the N7 program, wounds were healed by rubbing some dirt in them. He wasn't angry at the fact Alyssa had thrown herself into danger to protect their target, he knew that was just the kind of person she was, what made him mad is that she didn't call for him immediately after she went down; if it hadn't of been for Joker, watching them through their suit cameras, she would have gone down.

"I'm going to have to set this dislocated ankle-"

Before Dr Chakwas could finish, Ayden walked up to his sister, bent down and in one quick swoop, popped her ankle back in. She didn't make a sound or even flinch, she simply stared at her brother in silence. "How dare you not call out for help the moment you went down! If it hadn't of been for Joker you would have gone down in those fucking ruins along with Dr T'soni!"

"I thought I could have pulled myself out."

"It was NOT the time to prove anything, Alyssa." He growled standing over her, arms folded, although they were twins, Ayden always acted like an older brother. "We are a goddam team, Alyssa. Fucking remember the next time you try to play hero." Ayden didn't wait to hear a retort or reply, he didn't want to hear it; instead he just left.

The moment the med bay doors slid shut, Alyssa sighed, placing her head in her hands, Dr Chakwas checked the handy work on her ankle. "Looks like he popped it back into the right place. You didn't even flinch."

Alyssa lifted her head and thought for a moment, gently moving her bruised ankle in a circle to test the pain it gave her. "I spent my whole life training, Dr, from the moment we could walk, my mother was training us, preparing us for the Alliance, whether we wanted to or not. The long nights Ayden and I spent training our asses off, there were often times one of us dislocated something and we had to pop them back ourselves. We pushed ourselves not only physically but mentally, we learnt how to deal with pain, we've had to withstand a lot of it already. I made a mistake today, a misjudgement on my part and it scared him, even if he won't admit it and I owe Joker a great deal for having my back. We've spent our whole lives having one goal in mind, to be the absolute best in our field, always striving to do better, even if we sacrificed a lot in our lives in order to do so. But it's always just been the two of us, we've only always had each other, we didn't have room for 'friends' and even some of those we kept around only wanted us for one reason or another. My mother was barely around unless she was telling us what it was we were doing was wrong and that was with everything we ever did, no matter how much blood, sweat and tears we put into it." She sighed and slid gently off the table to test weight on her ankle, feeling it sting at the pressure she placed on it. "I'm sorry to unload so much onto you, doctor."

"Don't be silly, I enjoy hearing about it, Commander"

Joker leaned back into his chair, he had been listening to the whole ordeal in the med-bay, he had known the Shepard's had given up a lot to be where they are today but he never knew to what extent. He knew Ayden had a reputation for being a hard ass and somewhat 'cold' towards others but now he understood that he didn't have the opportunity to do anything else besides be a solider, a Commander; to lead people into battle and push them to be their best. He found it interesting that he and Alyssa were so similar but yet so different, he was impressed, to say the least, at the dedication the twins gave to their careers; even if they did creep him out. He found himself looking at the security cam in the med bay, watching Alyssa rock back and forth on her ankle, he often found himself watching her and he didn't quite get why he was so drawn to her, he had seen many beautiful women in his lifetime, no doubt about that; but Alyssa was different.

"That was outstanding flying out there, flight Lieutenant, picking us up the way you did in that situation was impressive, to say the least." Ayden's deep voice cut through the silence and made Joker jump, quickly closing the security camera he had enlarged before turning to face his commander.

Joker wasn't sure how far he could push Ayden with his wit and sarcasm but he was sure going to test it. "I'll expect a shiny gold medal for my good deed there, Commander."

Ayden gave a small smirk that didn't go unnoticed by the pilot. "Set a course for Noveria."

"Aye aye Commander." He nodded turning back to his controls.

Ayden hesitated on the spot for a minute, he wasn't one to get all personal or touchy feely with anyone. He cleared his throat to gain Joker's attention once more. Joker turned back around towards his Commander to see what it is he wanted, but without showing disrespect. "I wanted to say… thank you, for what you did." He sounded as awkward as he looked, frown on his face and just as quickly as he entered, he left, not waiting to hear a reply from the pilot. Ayden felt pissed, he didn't like owing people on a personal level and that's what he felt he owed Joker. He had no only informed him of what happened to his twin but also hovered the Normandy over falling ruins to pull their asses out. He was however, grateful to have such a skilled pilot under their command.

"Commander Shepard?" Liara called softly, breaking his intense thought process.

"Is there something you need Dr T'soni?" Ayden stopped and turned to face the Asari. "I hope the crew is making you feel welcome."

"Oh, yes, thank you Commander." She sent him a smile. "I was just wondering if I could accompany my Commanders on Noveria."

Ayden studied the Asari, he had seen them in the clubs dancing on tables but he had never truly looked at one, she defiantly was beautiful. "Any particular reason for the interest there, Dr?"

"Please, call me Liara." She shifted uncomfortably which cause Ayden to raise a suspicious eyebrow. "You see, I have reason to believe my mother is on Noveria, I wish to confront her."

Ayden stayed quiet with his arms folded for a long moment, studying to Asari before making any decisions. "If your emotions stay out of it, gear up and join us as the shore party."

"Thank you, Commander." She looked up at him with a sparkle in her eye. "You are both such interesting humans."

Ayden cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You better go gear up, dismissed." Liara simply smiled back at his words, before turning and heading down the corridor.

Alyssa slowly entered the cockpit, she had to thank a certain someone for saving her dumb ass. She tried hard to ignore the dull sting of her ankle, not letting it show that she was in pain. "Joker…" She cleared her throat and watched as the pilot's chair spun around to face her. "I know you're flying somewhere I just wanted to stop off and say thank you for what you did back there."

"You're not good at that whole 'avoiding death' shit, are you?" He smirked hearing her scoff in reply.

"I like to think of it as a talent, actually."

"Oh yeah, a real good one, commander."

"It adds to my charm."

"No doubt." Joker enjoyed this banter he and Alyssa would engage in whenever the two had time to talk. As a pilot he was used to the solitude, not many came to talk to him which suited him just fine, until the new commanders came. He turned back to his controls, running his fingers along them to continue flying the ship. "Any time you need it, I've got your back, Commander."

Alyssa smiled softly behind the pilots back. "That was great flying back there, I can see why they call you the best."

He wanted to see what kind of reaction he'd receive from the other twin so he said. "I'll expect a shiny gold medal for my good deeds there, Commander."

Alyssa smirked, she looked exactly like her brother when she did. "Tell you what, save our asses a few more times and maybe I'll get you one." She placed her hand gently on his shoulder, before turning around and leaving.

Joker felt butterflies in his stomach as his hand reached up to ghost over where she had touched him, it wasn't like him to get all gooey over a simple touch, but he felt a warmth in his heart.

Alyssa couldn't explain the feelings she had when she was around Joker, it was a feeling she hadn't felt before and she found herself wanting to be in his presence. He was charming, sarcastic and funny, he made her laugh and he was incredibly attractive. She found herself confused, she hadn't ever felt like this before about anyone, it was only ever business when it came to other people and that suited her and her brother just fine. She wondered down the corridor, frown on her face, deep in thought, she hadn't noticed Kaidan walking after her.

"Commander?" He called out nervously, forcing her to turn around and look at him.

"Lieutenant Alenko?"

Alyssa stood and listen to Kaidan talk about some personal things about when he was younger, she listened if nothing else than for politeness, she knew by the way he looked at her as he spoke that he admired her and it made her uncomfortable, there was no place for love on ships, her mother always taught her that. Once he had finish speaking he had left her alone and back to her thoughts.

"It would seem you have an admirer." Ayden's voice came from behind her, to which she glanced over her shoulder.

"It would seem so." She agree turning to face him. "It's a bother, really." Ayden sent her a smirk in which she returned before letting lose a sigh. "Look… Ayd…"

"Yeah." Ayden replied with a swift nod. "I get it. No need for mushy shit." Alyssa rolled her eyes forcing a laugh from her brother who placed an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him. "Let's just go kill some shit and call it even, deal?"

"Sounds like a good deal to me." Alyssa agreed as her brother dragged her in the direction of the air lock, she assumed he knew that Joker was getting close to Noveria. "Remind me to have a chat with Williams once we're back, don't ask why just remind me."

Joker sat at the controls watching their mission through their cams with great interest, both commanders agreed it was essential that Joker have access to both the audio and visual of the missions to ensure if they ever needed it again, he would be there in a heartbeat. Watching the twins in action was something else that was for sure, he had noticed Kaidan and Ashely enter the cockpit and watch the mission with him. The Twins had taken Garrus and Liara with them on the mission and although both were skilled fighters Joker could tell that they lagged behind, he knew Garrus could tell as well by the mutters he heard from his cam. They were flawless, from their fighting, to their communication, they were able to organise Garrus and Liara so brilliantly that their enemies didn't stand a chance. They both gave their condolences to Liara after they ended her mother's life, both impressed that she kept her emotions in check. However the Rachni queen was now talking to them, asking them to decide her fate and it was clear the twins had been torn, he noticed how Alyssa stood in front of the large tank keeping the queen hostage in an almost protective way.

"Ayden… we can't be the ones to end a species life…"

"Their war was way before our time, we don't have the right to decide this."

"No, the right we don't have is the one to end the life of an entire species. We have no right to do that, Ayden."

"Alyssa…"

"No. I can't allow you to destroy her, she understands where she went wrong in the past, she wants to make it different, she wants to do what right, she wants us to kill her corrupted children and she's giving us the chance to free or destroy her."

"I really don't think-"

"I call on my favour." She seemed to yell it, the smallest sign of panic crossing her face for a split second.

Ayden pulled a face at this, folding his arms across his chest. "Really? You're using your favour for someone else?"

Alyssa turned towards the glass tank, placing her hand against the cold glass staring at the large Rachni Queen. "I have to believe that there is still good in this universe, I have to believe that we're not the only ones who want peace. I can't comprehend bringing about the extinction of a species and I know you can't either. I believe she truly wants to live in peace, bringing her children up to be good, not killing machines." She let her hand fall off the tank before turning back to face her brother and team mates. "What kind of beings are we if we can end the life of another for good and still be okay with ourselves afterwards? That's not me, it never will be… is it you? Any of you?"

Liara took the smallest step forward. "You should release her, commander."

Garrus nodded. "Yeah, Shepard."

Ayden sighed, his sister sure was a good speaker, she could convince a Krogan to put on a dress and sing her a song. He looked up at her to see her already staring right back at him, waiting for a reply. "Fine, but if anything happens, it's all on you."

"Thank you, Commander Shepard. Our children will sing of your forgiveness." The Asari spoke the last words for the Rachni Queen before dropping to the floor, lifeless once more.

Alyssa smiled at the Queen, giving her a small nod before pushing down on the button, sending her free. "Be free…" She whispered seeing the elevator disappear.

"Come on, let's go blow up some babies so we can go, I'm hungry." Ayden turned towards the exit, placing his gun in its holster. Alyssa rolled her eyes but turned to follow after him, Garrus and Liara follow suit.

Alyssa sat at the cafeteria across from Ayden who was now on his fifth plate of food, she watched him with disgust as he shovelled the food into his mouth, barely taking a break to breathe. "You're so disgusting." She grunted causing him to look up at her and smirk, mouth full of food.

Garrus took a seat beside her with his special Turian plate of food that the Normandy had stocked up on. "Commanders." He greeted.

Alyssa turned to look at him, lazily pushing her food around with her fork. "Garrus." She greeted with a smile.

"I have a request, if I may Commanders."

Ayden stopped shovelling the food in his mouth and sat up straight, curious what the Turian had to say. "What is it?"

"I wish to have sparring session with both of you. I wish to train under your guidance, there are very few humans which possess the skills in combat that you two do, and in return I would be happy to show you Turian combat." Garrus mandiables twitched and he cleared his throat in embarrassment.

Alyssa and Ayden turned to look at each other seemingly having a completely silent conversation with one another. "We don't go easy, Vakarian, when Alyssa and I train it is gruelling."

"Just the way I like it, Commanders."

Alyssa grinned mischievously at her brother before elbowing Garrus in the ribs. "We'll see you in the training bay in an hour." And with that Alyssa picked up her tray and got ready to leave, she stopped at the doorway and turned to look at her brother. "Oh yeah, Ash, Thanks."

Ayden gave a nod to his sister before she left and Garrus raised an eyebrow. "Eat up, Vakarian, you'll need your strength." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, getting to his feet. "Expect to be flogged a few times before even getting in a hit."

"After today, I expect more than a few times, Commander."

Ayden smirked at the Turian, he was starting to like this one, he was willing to train hard to improve and that was a trait Ayden Shepard held highly. "You're going to fit in with us just fine, Vakarian."

Alyssa waited for the elevator doors to open, bouncing on her toes to keep herself moving, she hated standing still, and it also allowed her to apply continuous pressure to her sore ankle. Once the elevator doors opened she made her way to the storage section, seeing Ashely looking down at a data pad, seemingly deep in thought. Alyssa came to a stop just in front of her. "Chief Williams?"

Ashley's head shot up to look at her, she placed the data pad beside her and stood. "Commander, is there something wrong?"

"That's really up to you, Williams." Alyssa saw the confusion that crossed the soldier's face. "It would seem that you have quite the issue with how many aliens are aboard the Normandy."

"Ah." Ashley sighed leaning back onto the box. "I don't trust them, commander."

"And I can't trust a squad member that has such distrust against a being purely on their race."

"What are you saying, Commander?"

"To be perfectly blunt with you, Ashley, I know all about your family and your allegiance to the Alliance, I know of your grandfather and his surrender and I can only assume that you are quite bitter about that, along with your father never rising in rank." She saw the shocked expression on her face. "I have a good knowledge on every family that has committed themselves to the Alliance, it's a hobby of mine."

"I don't see what any of this has to do with the aliens on the ship." Ashley muttered.

"I have respect for your commit and your abilities as a solider, Williams, but if you cannot learn to cooperate with the rest of my squad I have no problem kicking you off my ship."

Alyssa could see her thinking over her options and this upset her just a little bit, that she'd consider finding other work just because she had a prejudice against aliens. "Understood, Commander." She said after a moment.

"You should come with me to the training bay, we are going to be doing some training soon." Alyssa offered, her way of a peace offering.

Ashley looked up at her and gave a small smile. "I would be honoured, Commander."

Ayden sat on the bench beside the 'training ring' strapping some weights to his legs, he had on a white singlet shirt and black shorts, his normal training gear. Garrus stalked over to him confused by what he was doing, Ayden must of noticed the Turian staring. "Weights." He replied pulling the band tight around his leg.

"Some kind of human training technique?" Garrus questioned receiving a nod in reply.

Alyssa walked in with Ashely beside her, the two engrossed in conversation. Alyssa was in black shorts and a yellow singlet, weights already strapped to her legs, hair tied back in a high ponytail. "Ash has decided to join us as well." She announced walking over to the training ring.

"What's your weights on?" Ayden questioned watching her jump up onto the 'stage' like area, a rope around the square field.

She glanced down at her legs. "One hundred kilos a leg." She replied with a shrug. "Those N7 armours are a lot heavier than our alliance ones, I feel slower in them."

"That they are." He agreed joining her in the ring. "Come on Garrus, Ash you can watch for now."

Garrus looked between his two Commanders standing in the ring in casual clothes, smirks on both of their faces and he felt like he was walking into a trap but he climbed in anyway, Garrus wasn't by any means an unskilled solider, he was incredibly skilled, strong and smart; but he also knew when he could learn more to become stronger. As soon as he got in Alyssa moved forwarded and in three swift movements brought him to the ground with a thud. The Turian's mandibles flared in irritation which just caused the twins to grin. "I wasn't ready Shepard."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want baby instructions?" Alyssa grinned watching the Turian jump to his feet.

Ayden and Alyssa ran him through the training for a good hour as other members of the crew came to watch the twins in teaching action. Ash was next and was put through the same gruelling beat down as Garrus, leaving the ring rubbing numerous parts of her body, slumping down on the seat next to Garrus.

"I feel that was easy mode." Ashley spoke rubbing her next, Garrus nodding his head in agreement. "Do you two ever train without the weights?"

"Sometimes, when Alyssa and I want a quick session." This seemed to intrigue the crew, talking between one another discussing what a 'quick session' would be for the commanders.

"Can we watch a quick session?" Ashley asked.

Alyssa looked at Ayden who simply shrugged, pulling at the band that kept his weights strapped to his leg, hearing them clang to the ground. Alyssa quickly followed suit, taking the weight from her legs and dumping them outside the ring, another clang sounding. "Hope you won't be a sore loser again." Ayden teased.

"You cheated last time." Alyssa huffed positioning herself into her fighting stance.

The crew were on the edge of their seats, eyes barely blinking in fear of missing something. The twins moved so fast it was almost a blur, the way they engaged in sparing with one another was a site to behold, neither going easy on the other, far too competitive. Every move was equally matched, the two knowing each other's moments like a book.

Alyssa stood at one end of the ring with Ayden opposite her, both panting, sweat across their brow. "I think we're both too fired up to give up a win tonight." Ayden spoke running the back of his hand across his brow.

"A tie?" Alyssa mused.

"For now." Ayden replied in a smirk.

"Holy shit you two are amazing." Ashley gushed standing up. "How does a human even get to that kind of speed?"

Alyssa walked toward the edge of the ring, looking down at her. "I don't think there has been a single day in our lives where we haven't trained, chief Williams. When we started practicing with weights, the moment we take them off we are faster." She glanced over her shoulder and saw Ayden standing in the middle, arms on top of his head to catch his breath, she smirked and her body began to charge, a second later Ayden felt his right leg give a harsh pull and he fell flat onto his back with a thud.

"Now who's the fucking cheater?" He hissed at his sister seeing the massive grin on her face. "I'll kill you!" He yelled jumping to his feet, Alyssa already over the rope and sprinting away. Ashley and Garrus watched as Ayden jumped down and began running after his sister, the two gone in a flash.

Joker sat in his pilot chair keeping the ship steady as it flew through the galaxy, he had always found the darkness and stars a special kind of peaceful. He had been watching the twins training session on the ships cams and once again found himself impressed by them, there weren't very many people that impressed Joker. However again he found himself drawn to Alyssa, his eyes never leaving her, she just had a way about her that he couldn't help watching her. He sighed readjusting his blue cap on his head, she was his commander, she'd never be anything more than that; he was a professional. A loud crashing sound followed by the slight feeling of the ship shaking broke him from his thought and he quickly flew through his security cams trying to find the source of the noise. He noticed a cloud of unsettled dust in the storage section of the ship, he squinted and zoomed closer to get a better look at what had just happened. As the dust settled he saw two figures punching each other and for a moment Joker was about to call for some assistance to that area until he noticed it to be Alyssa and Ayden, Alyssa giggling as Ayden gave her arm another punch.

"If you two could please stop destroying my ship." Joker spoke through the ship as he watched Ayden picked Alyssa up over his shoulder as she punched his chest.

A moment later Joker heard footsteps behind him and saw Ayden walking towards him. "Your ship?" He asked with a smirk, dropping Alyssa from off his shoulder and onto the floor with a thud.

"Shit head." Alyssa hissed getting to her feet, stumbling over to collapse in the co-pilot chair.

"That's what you get for cheating. Sorry about the mess to 'your' ship." Ayden gave a laugh, exiting the cockpit.

Alyssa looked down at her now red knees, rubbing her hands over them to calm the sting they felt from hitting the metal of the floor. Joker glanced at her, she was in casual clothes, fabric tight against her body showing off every curve on her body, her once neat ponytail was a mess and strains of hair fell around her face. God she was so beautiful to him even with the random blotches of red skin from the sparring. "Took a beating there, Commander?" He asked casually pulling his eyes back in front of himself.

Alyssa pushed the few stray hairs out of her face and laughed. "Yeah, that's what I get for cheating. Was totally worth it though." She gave him a sheepish grin. "Did we ever end up giving you the next lot of flight coordinates?"

"I'm just flying endless through space." Joker replied.

"That's sounds amazingly peaceful." Alyssa grinned leaning back in the co-pilots chair, wiggling in it to get comfortable.

"Yeah, until two commanders put a hole in my ship."

"What inconsiderate bastards."

"They're the worst."

Alyssa turned her head to the side to look at the pilot, she felt her heart flutter when she was greeted with him already looking back at her, smirk on his face. She suddenly felt flustered, a feeling she wasn't used too; she wasn't used to a lot of feelings Joker made her feel. She caught on to the fact she had been staring at him for far too long and quickly regained herself. "You'd be bored without us." She grinned turning back to look out into the stars.

"That's probably true, Commander."

"No need to be so formal, Joker, Ally is fine." She brought her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them, they felt only slightly tender at her touch. "We may be working together but that's no reason we can't be friends."

Joker glanced at her sideways, she simply continued to stare out the large windows in the front of the ship, she looked so cute curled up on the chair and he found himself being able to get used to having her around him, in fact he found himself enjoying her company. "Sure thing, Ally."

"Let's set a course for Feros."

"Aye, Aye, Ally."

She felt her cheeks grow hot at the sound of her name coming from him, she cuddled more into her knees to hide this fact from Joker but unknowingly to her he had already caught her blush that ran across her cheeks.